SINGAPORE – Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat’s fourth Budget speech was a wide-ranging and forward-looking one, with a strong focus on building a strong and united nation in the face of global changes. Details of the much-discussed Merdeka Generation Package were released, along with a slew of benefits for Singaporeans young and old as the country marks its bicentennial year. Mr Heng, who delivered his speech in Parliament on Monday (Feb 18), also announced measures to help businesses, workers and families. Curious about what’s in store for you in this…

SINGAPORE – To celebrate the bicentennial year, a $1.1 billion Bicentennial Bonus will be shared with Singaporeans, said Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Monday (Feb18). The bonus is part of two initiatives that will be launched to commemorate the year, with the other being a Bicentennial Community Fund. As part of the Bicentennial Bonus, 1.4 million lower-income Singaporeans will receive up to $300 through a GST Voucher cash payouts. The bicentennial payment, which will be received at the end of 2019, is meant to help them with their…

China’s exchanges are starting to crack down on issuances of excessive bonus shares among listed companies, as part of the widened drive to curb speculation. Publicly traded companies with year-on-year profit declines exceeding 50 per cent and per-share earnings lower than 0.2 yuan are allowed to issue no more than five such stocks for every 10 held, the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses said in a statement on Friday night. It goes into immediate effect. Separately, the two exchanges also released a draft rule on share buy-backs to seek public comment…

SINGAPORE – The Civil Service, Singapore’s largest employer, will pay civil servants a year-end Annual Variable Component (AVC) of one month’s pay – the same as last year. The year-end AVC is added to what is commonly known as the 13th-month payment to make up the full year-end bonus in December. Lower-wage civil servants, which number around 1,380, will get a minimum year-end AVC of $1,800. For example, an officer earning a monthly salary of $1,500 will get $1,800, which is $300 more than what he would get if it…